Holy Roman Empire

Jacob’s diplomatic protest was actually just an angry word.Asking the international community for help, France can't afford to lose this person.

Failure to win on the battlefield, and hope that the international community will interfere, is an act of the weak and does not conform to France’s status as a major power.

Of course, the main thing is that protests are useless.The four referees on the European continent fought each other two by one. You can't expect a group of small countries that act as cheerleaders to interfere, right?

Since it is a war, there are bound to be casualties.The civilian casualties in France are high, and the civilian casualties on the side of the anti-French alliance are not small.

Especially in the occupied Belgium and Rhineland regions, although there are no specific statistics, it can be determined that civilian casualties are above five figures.

Now is the peak period of the colonial empire, and also the peak period of racial discrimination. Not all nations have human rights.

It's okay if the lid is not opened. If it is opened, the final outcome will be "self-defeating one thousand and killing three hundred enemies."

In case the operation is not good, European countries mistakenly think that France is not good, and run to hold Austria’s thigh one by one, then it will be a big trouble.

The current anti-French alliance is already difficult enough to deal with. If the Austrians are allowed to fool a few allies, there is no need to fight the following battles.

In fact, the biggest threat the Austrian Air Force poses to the French army is not the direct damage on the battlefield.

Regardless of airship bombing or plane shooting, what kind of results can be achieved depends on luck.

When luck is good, a wave of air strikes can kill thousands of people; when bad luck, the results are not enough for gas.

Compared to the direct results of the Austrian Air Force on the battlefield, Governor Jacobs is more worried about the morale of the army.

After a series of blows, the arrogance of the French army was gradually wiped out, and more and more people lost confidence in the next war.

Fu Wushuang will not come singly, just when Governor Jacob was worried about the Austrian Air Force.

A burly young officer ran in from the outside and said out of breath: "Governor... Your Excellency, the important matter... is not good!"

Governor Jacob's heart tightened, and he knew something was going to happen just by looking at the nervous expression of the young officer.

After seeing the big wind and waves, Jacob quickly adjusted, pretending to be nonchalant and said: "Olen, speak slowly. The sky hasn't fallen down yet, where is the enemy bombing?"

Compared to other bad news on the battlefield, Governor Jacob still hopes that the next bad news is enemy air bombing.

Airships have entered the military field for so many years, and Austria is the first to put airships into the military field. Although the French are proud but not stupid, it is impossible to face such an enemy without defense.

When establishing the material warehouse, Governor Jacob had already considered the threat from heaven.This is also the reason why the French army suffered heavy casualties after the loss of air superiority.

Oren’s young officer shook his head hurriedly: “It’s not an air attack! The enemy once again tore our eastern line of defense, and the Aswan area is in danger.”

When he heard the word "again", Governor Jacob felt only a toothache.There is no way. From the outbreak of the war to the present, the French defenses deployed in Sudan have been breached three times.

Fortunately, the area of ​​the colony was large enough for the French army to have the opportunity to rearrange the defense line.It is a pity that the colonial army has always been unbearable, and every line of defense cannot last for a few days.

In Jacob's view, it is not so much that the French army on the front line is resisting the Austrian invasion, it is more of the harsh geographical conditions and poor traffic environment that are slowing the enemy's progress.

"Order Lieutenant General Parker to gather the defeated troops on the front line and build a new line of defense in the Aswan area.

Order the 17th Division and the 24th Division to go to reinforcements immediately.

Order the defenders in Kom Ombo and Idfu to prepare for battle..."

A series of orders were issued, and it was obvious that Governor Jacob had no hope for the French army on the front line.Active defense is just to buy time, not to expect them to block the enemy.

Otherwise, it is to concentrate on building a line of defense to block the enemy's front, instead of preparing for battles and resisting in different regions, trading space for time.

There is no best tactics in this world, only the most suitable tactics.

According to the plan of the Paris government, the task of the African colonial government was to stick to it, delay time, and wait for the French army to win the European Union.

There is no doubt that Governor Jacob is strictly implementing this plan.Except for the ambitious and proactive organization of several offensives at the beginning of the war, he entered a state of full defense afterwards.

However, the plan did not change fast, the European War was at a deadlock, and the French army was unable to break through the Rhine Defense Line, and the situation in Egypt became worse.

...

The Aswan area has now become a battlefield.The sound of artillery fire was intertwined with shouts of killing, resounding through the sky.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Major General Herzendorf gave a satisfied smile.After laughing, there is a deep sadness.

There is no doubt that the increasing role of the Air Force on the battlefield is also an impact on the Army.

Although the Army’s dominance cannot be shaken, the Air Force is developing rapidly. If nothing happens, the country will definitely increase its investment in the Air Force after the war.

If only the Air Force is growing, Major General Herzendorf is still worried. After all, the Air Force has just started, and no matter how it develops in a short period of time, it will not be able to keep pace with the Army.

The problem is that Austria still has a large navy. The international situation is now very obvious. After the war, the Vienna government will definitely increase its investment in the navy and compete with the British for maritime supremacy.

In contrast, the Army will be much harder.Everyone knows that Austria cannot support five or six million troops for a long time. Once the war is over, disarmament is imperative.

The navy cannot be abolished, and the size of the air force is limited. Even if it is disarmed, the airship unit will be directly transferred to logistics and transportation according to usual practice. Only the army will be abolished.

With one increase and one decrease, the army’s advantages have been cancelled out. The future Austrian military pattern will be the checks and balances of the land, sea and air forces, and the army will no longer be the dominant force.

This is what the Vienna government wants to see most. In the past decade or so, the navy has developed vigorously. The airship force can separate from the army and become an army. The government has made great efforts.

Of course, the emperor's acquiescence is indispensable behind this.The core of the political game is checks and balances of power, and the emperor does not want his subordinates to be monolithic.

As an army general, I naturally don't want to see this happen.Even if the Austrian family has a big business, the funds invested in the military are limited. The rise of the navy and air force will inevitably diminish the resources of the army.

It's useless to know, this is a shame.From the day the Austrian Air Force was established, a new pattern was doomed.

Logically speaking, the rank of Major General Herzendorf should not be known.

After all, the matter has not happened yet, the government is only deliberately promoting it, and no one has proposed it in any place, let alone implemented it.From beginning to end, no news came out.

However, there is never a lack of smart people in this world, Major General Herzendorf is one of them, and he has drawn a conclusion from some clues.

Sometimes knowing too much is also an annoyance.Major General Herzendorf is like this now. Originally, he still didn't believe that the Air Force could grow, but after witnessing the Air Force operations, he had to accept the reality.

Now the performance of the aircraft is still limited, and the bombing has to rely on airships, but the technology is updated fast these years!

Soon Herzendorf dispelled the messy thoughts in his mind. When the sky fell, it was the tall man who stood up first. There are so many big bosses in the army, and it is not his turn to worry about the future.

In any case, Austria's geographic location determines the need to develop land power, and no matter how it belongs to the army, it cannot be lost.

After all, the cake gets bigger and bigger, even if there are more people, everyone still gets more hands than before.

Looking at his watch, Major General Herzendorf instructed the nearby officers: "The order goes on. After half an hour, the second, second and fifth divisions attacked from the front, the second, third, and sixth divisions attacked from the right, and the second, forty, and first divisions. From……"

It is impossible under normal circumstances for a major general to command more than two dozen infantry divisions.According to the organization of the Austrian army, division-level officers are basically major generals.

Those who are qualified to command more than 300,000 troops, at least are generals.

However, these so-called conventions have all been broken after the military expansion.

Counting the colonial forces, the Austrian army has swelled from more than 500,000 before the war to more than 6 million.

Since the completion of the military system reform, Austria’s military ranks have become precious, especially since the number of generals has been extremely strict.

Before the war broke out, the army was up and down, including retired generals, and there were less than 700 people.The army suddenly expanded tenfold, and Franz naturally couldn't bring out so many generals.

Without military exploits, the threshold of generals is difficult to cross, but there are many school-level officers in reserve.If the generals are not enough, the colonel is used to make up the number, and even the division commanders of some units are under-deserved as lieutenant colonels.

This is the age of war. If you don't control it, you won't be flying all over the sky after the war.

In order to avoid a situation where the generals are more embarrassed than the soldiers, Franz decisively adopted the measures of low rank and high distribution.Anyway, after a few battles, he will catch up with the achievements.

In this context, it is not surprising that a major general army commander like Herzendorf has appeared.

...

With the start of the defense of Aswan, letters asking for help continued to fly from Cairo to Paris. At most, Napoleon IV was able to receive three telegrams for help from the Governor of Egypt in one day.

Not only Egypt, but also telegrams for help from other parts of Africa are endless.Even though the Paris government has decided to temporarily abandon large colonies, it has not been able to reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield.

The retreat of the colonial government is not a simple task, not only the government agencies have to relocate, but also a large number of people need to leave.

Others can throw it away, but the soldier's family can't throw it away too, right?

If the soldiers' family members were really thrown to Austria, there would be no need to fight the rest of the battle.

In order to cover the retreat of government agencies and soldiers' families, the French army on the front line still has to continue to resist.Therefore, the reinforcements promised to the Governor of Egypt only exist in theory.

Whether it can be in place in the end depends on how many troops are withdrawn from the front line.After it was determined that it could guarantee the safety of the Algeria region, Egypt had a surplus of troops.

Don't look at the fact that the African battlefield seems to be of little importance, and it will not affect the final outcome of the European War, and the French government has not paid much attention.

On the contrary, the African colonies provided France with one-third of the industrial raw materials and one-fifteenth of the agricultural products, which was of great strategic significance to France.

From the very beginning, the French government has attached great importance to the African continent.However, their strength in the African region is limited, and their homeland is facing two-front warfare. In a short time, they are simply unable to invest a large amount of troops in the African colonies.

Out of helplessness, the Paris government deliberately acted indifferent, making the outside world think that they did not value Africa, not that France could not beat Austria in Africa.

There is no way, this is politics.The complex international situation determines that France must remain strong, but any signs of fatigue may trigger a chain reaction.

Faced with the deteriorating situation in Africa, Napoleon IV finally could not sit still.The Rhine Defense Line has not yet broken through. If Africa falls first, the fun will be great.

Not to mention the loss to France caused by the fall of Africa.From a strategic point of view, once French Africa fell, Austria would almost unify the entire African continent.

At that time, even if the French army breaks through Vienna, the war will continue.No way, the capital is too strong, and there is really no reason to admit defeat.

Even if it has been losing on the battlefield, Austria can rely on resources to consume it and drag France to death.

With the lessons learned from the Russian-Prussian War, Napoleon IV had to consider the terrible consequences of the fall of French Africa.

"The situation in Africa has completely collapsed. What is the War Department going to do?"

The Secretary of the Army Luskinia flushed, and replied with a slight embarrassment: "Your Majesty, our disadvantages on the African continent are too obvious. Even if we send reinforcements from China, it will be difficult to reverse the situation.

At the moment, we can only carry out a strategic contraction and concentrate our forces to protect the most important Egypt and Algeria, and other regions can only temporarily give up."

It is impossible to increase troops. The European War has consumed almost all of France's strength and has no ability to carry out an expedition.

Even if the War Department grinds its teeth to gather hundreds of thousands of troops, what about the logistics materials?

It must be understood that the cost of the labor expedition is far greater than the cost of local operations, and French Africa is not as deep as Austrian Africa.

After the war broke out, the investment of the Vienna government on the African battlefield was only weapons, equipment and medicines, and other strategic materials were handled by the local governments themselves.

After changing to French Africa, the colonial government simply cannot afford such a large expenditure.The indigenous people’s ability to create wealth is simply not comparable to the Austrians.

Napoleon IV's face sank, obviously this statement did not satisfy him.

If you can hold the most important Egypt and Algeria, then you can accept it in front of you. The problem is that the eyes of the Egyptian region are not guaranteed.

Open the map and you will know that France's territory on the African continent is shrinking day by day.At the current rate, in the past year and a half, there will be nothing wrong with France on the African continent.

"Is there only these?"

Facing the emperor's soul torture, Luskinia's forehead was sweating.There is no way, this problem is too difficult.

"Your Majesty, although the deterioration of the situation on the African continent cannot be reversed, it will not collapse immediately.

In any case, we still have nearly one million troops on the African continent, and we can still do it if we delay.

As long as we won the European War, what the Austrians eat now, they still have to pay back the profits."

If the "Army of One Million" falls into the ears of unsuspecting people, it is estimated that it can scare many people.

It's a pity that all those present are insiders who know very well what those troops are.As long as the colonial forces have half the combat effectiveness of the main force, the situation will not collapse so badly.

Napoleon IV waved his hand: "Enough, I don't want to listen to these clichés.

Everyone knows that the European War is the key to victory and defeat, provided that we can win the war on the European continent.

If the stalemate continues like this, once French Africa falls, what shall I fight with Austria?Do you count on the British?"

It's not that Napoleon IV couldn't hold back his breath, but that the situation on the battlefield was too bad.The African battlefield was defeated, and the European battlefield was not going well.

With the passage of time, more and more Austrian troops have been put into the Rhine Defense Line, and the hope of the French Army to break through the defense line is getting lower and lower.

For this war, France has placed too many chips, and now they simply cannot afford to lose.

After hesitating for a while, Luskinia slowly said: "Your Majesty, we need allies. We need real allies, not the kind of British who stabbed them in the back at any time!"

This is a lesson of blood. When you open a history book, you will know that France is fighting alone most of the time.

In many cases, it is horrible to be beaten by the enemy, although it clearly has the strength of the largest power on the European continent.

It's not that no one has discovered this problem. The main reason is that when they respond, the countries on the European continent have been offended.

Now is no exception, Napoleon IV also longed for allies, but he couldn't find it!

If it weren't for the pressure, he wouldn't seek skin with the British and the tiger.

...